where the ordinary becomes extraordinary

the four-legged light of my life

my beloved furry friend came home from the doggy ranch on monday. he was there for an entire week. i was at rally (rally!) from monday through thursday, and i let him stay for an extra few days of fun in order to have some me time.

let me just say, for the record, that a week of sleep is a beautiful beautiful thing. it turns out that there is really only one thing standing between me and a full night of sleep - and his name is atlas. (well, that is not entirely true. i am the one who let him sleep on the bed in the first place. clearly i did not think that through. then again, i am doubtful that the knowledge that i was giving up a good night's sleep for the duration of his life would have changed things. in the face of his cute puppy-ness and his whining, i would have done the exact same thing.)

i usually drive to rainier and pick him up, but this time, he came home on the doggy ranch bus. have i ever showed you a picture of the bus? it is the best. thing. ever. there are pictures of the bus about five rows down on this page. please go look at them. they will make you smile. if you have a dog, you will want to send your dog there. (if you live in or near portland, you should. double dog ranch is like doggy heaven on earth.)

anyway, when i spotted atlas on the bus, he was sharing a seat with another dog, a dog that was about as large as him and much furrier. i am not entirely sure how they both fit in the same seat. sam said that when atlas got on the bus, he ran all the way to the back and hopped up on the seat with scout. sam let them sit together, and scout licked atlas' ear the entire drive. apparently they were the best of friends. isn't that sweet?

atlas has such a good time with his friends at the doggy ranch that i often wish he had a doggy ranch friend (or a good doggy friend in general) in daily life. except that in daily life, it is also true that he really just wants to be with me. i guess that's ok too. sleep or no sleep, i always like to be with him.

I want to go to the Dog Ranch too! :o) I wish you could hear/seem me smiling and laughing... Those pics of the dogs on the bus are sooo cute! And look how happy there there at the Ranch--dog heaven! Those are some of the best photos ever. And fun to see the Ranching taking shape & being built. So glad Atlas has a grand time away, and made a new best friend. And glad you got some sleep, Elizabeth. We let Charlie in be with us for some cozy time, but then he's shuffled to his cat bed in the living room for overnight. It means we get some sleep--much needed! Happy Day ((HUGS))

i. love. this. post!
atlas and scout sitting in the same seat like two best buds... well, what a picture to think about.
the first time you posted about double doggy ranch i went to the site... i couldn't stop looking at the pictures. and i think there must have been 20 pages of them.
take naps if you ever can. it helps.
sleep is over rated when it compares to that furry person who is pure love!
hugs and a nose smoosh,
tammy j

@tracy: that sounds like the perfect plan. together and then apart. ah well. that is the one very appealing thought about having a cat. i bet if we had a cat and it didn't sleep on the bed, atlas would sleep with the cat instead of me.

@vivienne: it really is. i like to look at the picture of that one dog peering over the seat often.

@tammy: the pictures are so great. there is so much fun and joy and happiness and delight in them.

@brooke: i know! it really is dog heaven, isn't it. i am thankful for it every single day. i've told them that they need one on the east coast. :)

I like to let the pups sleep with me, but most of the time, it's me and the kittens. They need their mommy time. I like sleeping with Jool because she's a snuggler. Last night, Katie slept with us and I got hissed at when I rolled over and disturbed her. And she stole my pillow! Dang cat! LOL

@jerry: that very first smiling weim? no. oh. i just saw the purple-collared weim. that is not him either. though there are a lot of weims that stay there, and sometimes i have trouble picking atlas out of the pictures. ;) he is on page 5, 9 rows up from the bottom, on the right side - orange collar and smiling face. :)

@sherron: lol! at least atlas never hisses at me! he is very agreeable about such things as being moved, thank goodness. :)